Título: Breaking
news: Russia will completely stop the delivery of gaz through the Ukraine

Texto: First, I
was a little skeptical. Then more and more sources confirmed what seems to be a
fact: Russia will completely stop the delivery of gaz through the Ukraine and
all Russian gaz will now flow through Turkey (see Bloomberg and LifeNews). Not
only that, but the Russians have told the Europeans that if they want Russian
gaz, they will have to build their own pipeline to Turkey and pay for it all.

The Europeans
appear to be shell-shocked. Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice
president for energy union, declared that this decision made "no economic
sense". As if the nonstop economic
and political warfare waged by the EU against Russia did make any sense!

I can image the
faces of the Eurobureaucrats when Alexei Miller, the head of Gazprom, told them
that "now it is up to them to put in place the necessary infrastructure
starting from the Turkish-Greek border” while the Russian Energy Minister Novak
added that "the decision has been made, we are diversifying and
eliminating the risks of unreliable countries that caused problems in past
years, including for European consumers.”

In other words,
the EU just lost it all and so did the Ukraine.
Keep in mind that the EU has no other options then to purchase the
Russian gas from Turkey while Russia can simply do without gaz exports to
Europe because China has already signed a contract covering the exact same
amount of gaz and possibly much more.

Let's see now how
the infinitely corrupt, arrogant, criminally irresponsible European elites will
cope with an agriculture choking in useless surplus stocks, a society waging
ideological war on 1.6 billion Muslims, and now with no energy.

The always
irreplaceable Poles have come up with a brilliant strategy it appears: they
will "not really" invite Putin to the commemoration of the liberation
of Auschwitz even though Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet military. I am sure that Putin will be both impressed
and heartbroken.

Nowadays every
time I hear any news out of Europe, I always think that Victoria Nuland's
famous "f**k the EU" and how Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London,
called his colleagues the "great supine protoplasmic invertebrate
jellies". I share exactly the same sentiments: let them
"Charlies" now freeze in their own pathetic mediocrity.

Más
recientemente, el Peregrino comenta:

Título: Russia Leaves the
European Commissioner for Energy Union out in the Cold

by Aleksei
Kettunen

Texto: GAZPROM–EU: 6–0

Yesterday on
Wednesday the EU negotiated with Gazprom in Moscow. The EU negotiators had
three aims:

-Pressure Russia
into extending the special winter pricing on gas supplies to Ukrainian due to
end in March,

-Force Russia to
further unilateral concessions by forcing all European energy purchases to
happen through a new “European Energy Union”,

-Pressure Russia
to resurrect the canceled South Stream gas pipeline project and build it in
accordance with the restrictive rules of the Third Energy Package.

The Russian
response was a cold shower.

Firstly, Gazprom
said there is no need for a special summer agreement on Ukrainian gas
purchases, as a valid contract already exists.

In practice, this
means that all the concessions Kiev has received for the winter season are
temporary and there is no space for negotiations. If the EU wants to ensure
their gas transits through Ukraine then it must put pressure on Kiev to comply
with existing agreements. If Kiev needs gas it cannot afford to pay – thus
endangering transit deliveries to EU countries – it is not Russia's problem.
The same applies to Kiev's gas debts; the EU will have to pay both the
Ukrainian gas debts and any future gas purchases.

Secondly, Gazprom
announced that the South Stream gas pipeline project is dead and will not be
realized. The project collapsed under US and EU pressure. The greatest obstacle
turned out to be EU's Third Energy Package. It heavily restricts how Gazprom
could use their own pipeline; Gazprom could only use 50% of South Stream's
capacity and would be forced to offer the remaining 50% of the transportation
capacity to third parties. Although all of the agreements between Gasprom and
the various transit and consumer countries were made before the Third Energy
Package entered into force, the European Commission now demands that it is
applied retroactively.

Russia's solution
is as follows: Gazprom will build the pipeline to Turkey and extend it the
Turkish-Greek border. The pipeline will end in a gas distribution hub near the
EU border. If the EU wants to buy gas, it will have to build a pipeline to
Turkey at its own expense. It will also need to expand the gas transport
capacity between its South European member countries – and do so under the
constraints imposed by its own Third Energy Package.

The final punch
to EU arrogance was Gazprom's declaration that after the completion of the gas
hub and the Turkish pipeline Gazprom will end all gas transit through Ukraine.
Russian gas will only be available through Turkey! The Ukrainian pipeline
network will be used exclusively supply gas to Ukraine. Gazprom based its
decision on Ukraine's instability and the high transit risks.

Maroš Šef?ovi?,
the week-old European Commissioner for Energy Union must have had the worst day
of his life. EU arrogance hit a brick wall. A major scandal is brewing about
how Germany ruthlessly secured its own gas supply through the Nord Stream
Pipeline and then used all means possible to sabotage the South Stream
pipeline. There is no better cause inflame the North-South conflict in the EU.
The prospective users of the South Stream pipeline are sure to feel “eternal
gratitude” to the United States for killing the project.

The perpetual EU
candidate Turkey will feel Schadenfreude watching the EU's plight while
calculating the future revenues from gas transits. Turkey also happens to be
Gazprom's second-largest customer after Germany. The biggest loser will be
Ukraine, the world's preeminent gas siphoner and blackmailer.

Despite all the
arrogant talk the EU has no real alternative to Russian natural gas. Brussels
has to swallow it pride and come to its senses.

Now we are
anxiously waiting for the Western mainstream media's spin on the story.

Texto: European
Commission Vice President Maroš Šefovi? was told in Moscow Wednesday (14
January) that Russia would shift all its gas transit from Ukraine to Turkey,
and that EU customers should buy this gas at the border with Greece.

According to
press reports, Šef?ovi?, who visits Russia for the first time since he was
appointed Commission Vice-President for the Energy Union, said he was “very
surprised” by the Russian move.

Russia recently
abandoned plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline via the Black Sea to
Bulgaria, and blamed Sofia for having obstructed the project.

EU Energy
Commissioner Maroš Šef?ovi? said he was 'very surprised' after Russia announced
it would shift all its gas transit from Ukraine to Turkey, and that EU
customers should buy this gas at the border with Greece. “We don’t work like
this,” Šef?ovi? said. “I believe we can find a better...

[…]

Bulgarian Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov was in Brussels last Monday, and asked Šef?ovi? to
advocate resuming the project, which he said his country supports.

About 40% of
Russia’s gas exports transit through Ukraine, which receives billions in
transit fees. Now Russia says it will build an offshore pipeline to Turkey and
send all this gas to the Turkish border with Greece.

“We don’t work
like this,” Šef?ovi? said, as quoted from Bloomberg. He reportedly added, “I
believe we can find a better solution.”

“South Stream is
dead. For Europe there will be no other gas transit options to risky Ukraine
other than the new ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline,” Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said,
as reported by RIA Novosti.

Reportedly,
Moscow believes that its gas supplies through Ukraine remain at risk, and is
firmly decided to re-route them.

Russia will
instead build an alternative pipeline using funds and materials intended for
the original South Stream project, the Russia press writes. Reportedly, some of
the pipes are stored in Bulgarian ports.

However, some
analysts doubt that Russia would find the money to buy an offshore pipeline in
its current difficult circumstance, aggravated by the fall of the oil price and
the Western sanctions.

Texto: Vladimir
Putin ordered the Russian state energy giant Gazprom to cut supplies to and
through Ukraine amid accusations, according to The Daily Mail, that its neighbor
has been siphoning off and stealing Russian gas. Due to these "transit
risks for European consumers in the territory of Ukraine," Gazprom cut gas
exports to Europe by 60%, plunging the continent into an energy crisis
"within hours." Perhaps explaining the explosion higher in NatGas
prices (and oil) today, gas companies in Ukraine confirmed that Russia had cut
off supply; and six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas. The
EU raged that the sudden cut-off to some of its member countries was
"completely unacceptable," but Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller later added
that Russia plans to shift all its natural gas flows crossing Ukraine to a
route via Turkey; and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated
unequivocally, "the decision has been made."

As Bloomberg
reports,

Russia plans to
shift all its natural gas flows crossing Ukraine to a route via Turkey, a
surprise move that the European Union’s energy chief said would hurt its
reputation as a supplier.

The decision
makes no economic sense, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice
president for energy union, told reporters today after talks with Russian
government officials and the head of gas exporter, OAO Gazprom, in Moscow.

Sefcovic said he
was “very surprised” by Miller’s comment, adding that relying on a Turkish
route, without Ukraine, won’t fit with the EU’s gas system.

Gazprom plans to
deliver the fuel to Turkey’s border with Greece and “it’s up to the EU to
decide what to do” with it further, according to Sefcovic.

Which, as The
Daily Mail reports, has led to a major (and imminent) problem for Europe...

Russia cut gas
exports to Europe by 60 per cent today, plunging the continent into an energy
crisis 'within hours' as a dispute with Ukraine escalated.

This morning, gas
companies in Ukraine said that Russia had completely cut off their supply.

Six countries
reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas shipped via Ukraine today, in a
sharp escalation of a struggle over energy that threatens Europe as winter sets
in.

Bulgaria, Greece,
Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments
from Russia through Ukraine.

As Bloomberg goes
on to note, Gazprom has reduced deliveries via Ukraine after price and debt
disputes with the neighboring country that twice in the past decade disrupted
supplies to the EU during freezing weather.

“Transit risks
for European consumers on the territory of Ukraine remain,” Miller said in an
e-mailed statement. “There are no other options” except for the planned Turkish
Stream link, he said.

“We have informed
our European partners, and now it is up to them to put in place the necessary
infrastructure starting from the Turkish-Greek border,” Miller said.

Russia won’t hurt
its image with a shift to Turkey because it has always been a reliable gas
supplier and never violated its obligations, Russian Energy Minister Alexander
Novak told reporters today in Moscow after meeting Sefcovic.

“The decision has
been made,” Novak said. “We are diversifying and eliminating the risks of
unreliable countries that caused problems in past years, including for European
consumers.”

That helps to
explain today's epic meltup in NatGas futures...

"They [the
Russians] have reduced deliveries to 92million cubic metres per 24 hours
compared to the promised 221million cubic metres without explanation,"
said Valentin Zemlyansky of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz.

"We do not
understand how we will deliver gas to Europe. This means that in a few hours
problems with supplies to Europe will begin."

Texto: Europe
will have to get gas via Turkey or Ukraine, there will be no direct
transcontinental pipeline to Europe, Gazprom has confirmed. It is disappointing
news for Bulgaria, which was hoping to get gas directly from Russia, and not
via Ukraine.

Gazprom CEO
Aleksey Miller made it clear that Turkey, and not Bulgaria, will become the
main gas valve between Russia and Europe.

“South Stream is
dead. For Europe there will be no other gas transit options to risky Ukraine
other than the new ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline,” Miller said Wednesday, as
reported by RIA Novosti.

"Now, the
‘Turkish Stream’ on the agenda," he emphasized.

EU Energy
Commissioner Maros Sefcovic was in Moscow Wednesday to discuss EU energy
security and the fate of South Stream with Miller and Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

Gazprom's
decision to create ‘Turkish Stream’ will damage to the company’s image,
according to the Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

Ahead of the
meeting, Bulgaria expressed optimism that it would reach a solution with Moscow
on South Stream.

In the wake of
the South Stream closure, the European Commission is supporting Bulgaria’s
proposal to build a gas storage hub. At present Bulgaria only has a big enough
gas hub to hold 2 months’ consumption.

“I really hope
we’ll be able to find the right solution, especially after the visit to Moscow;
the right solution as far as the gas hub is concerned or the continuation of
the work on South Stream,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said in
Brussels on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reports.

Russia stopped
deliveries to Europe in 2006 and 2009 over disputes with Ukraine.

Gazprom chairman
of the board Alexei Miller, center, and heads of shareholding companies are in
Anapa at the launching ceremony of South Stream gas pipeline construction, 7
December 2012. (RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev) Gazprom chairman of the board
Alexei Miller, center, and heads of shareholding companies are in Anapa at the
launching ceremony of South Stream gas pipeline construction, 7 December 2012.
(RIA Novosti / Sergey Guneev)

Bulgaria lost
more than 6,000 new jobs and over $3 billion of investment with the
cancellation of the project. The country also receives 90 percent of its gas
imports from Russia, the majority of which crosses through Ukraine, which is
seen as an energy risk.

The parties
agreed to hold a future trilateral meeting between Russia, EU, and Ukraine in
Sofia.

Aleksey Miller
said that transit risks in Ukraine are not over, even though Kiev has managed
to pay its debt and resume gas flows, after a 6-month hiatus. At present,
Ukraine hasn’t stored up enough in its underground storage reserves, according
to the Gazprom head.

Russia pulled the
plug on the project to Europe in December after standoffs with Brussels over
the placement of the pipeline in Bulgaria, the first land section of the
pipeline. It would have pumped 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe
annually.

Russia will
instead build an alternative pipeline using funds and materials intended for
the original South Stream project. Europe will have to buy gas at the Turkish
border. It will across the Black Sea to Turkey and be able to pump 63 billion
cubic meters a year.

TIEMPOS DE OSCURIDAD

"The past century has seen a counter-revolution against the Enlightenment, classical economics and its culmination in socialist hopes to steer industrial capitalism to evolve into democratic socialism. What is occurring today is a self-destructive financial dynamic of impoverishment, dependency and breakdown in many ways like what happened when Rome’s creditor oligarchy plunged the Empire into the Dark Age two thousand years ago. The post-feudal real estate and financial oligarchies, the landed aristocracies of Europe and the great banking families and American trust builders have made a comeback, and the New Cold War is intended to lock in their victory. Ukraine is simply the latest battlefield, and battlefields end up devastated."